Positivity Challenge

Hello fellow World Pulse community,

I have been immersed in the job search since graduating from a graduate program in International Development in April. I've sent out countless resumes, participated in several hours on job search sites, read zillions of \"How to get that job\" articles, met with career counselors, and conducted dozens of informational interviews with professionals in my desired field. I will admit that this search has been an internal battle. There has been many highs and lows and it seams to come in waves. Every day where I think \"Is this every going to happen?\" is usually followed with \"I can do this. I will get a great job\" day. To attempt to fend off some of the ruminating thoughts I am challenging myself to a 21-day positivity challenge.

There has recently been a social media trend of a variety of challenges, from the ALS ice bucket challenge to this positivity/gratitude challenge. I have decided to customize the positivity challenge to my needs. I believe the trending challenge is to list three things to be grateful for on a social media site daily while challenging other to do so. Rather than doing that, I will be keeping a personal gratitude journal and writing reflective posts daily for 21 days. In addition to working through this mental challenge I will participating in a physical challenge as well. For those same three weeks, I will make sure that I perform some form of cardio for at least a half an hour each day. I am paring the positive thinking with physical exertion for 21 days as an holistic approach to overall improve my well-being. When I studied motivation during my undergraduate psychology studies it was noted that it takes between 21-30 days to create a habit.

At the gym's pool I go to there is a motivational poster up that reads \"To succeed in your goals, you must first envision it for yourself.\" I feel empowered when I push myself to swim faster and harder after imagining my dreams. This inspired me to create an inspiration board to display in my bedroom. On it (see attached image) I have pictures of organizations whose work impresses me and where I dream to work for, including World Pulse. My area of interest is women and girls empowerment. I have info graphics on why it's vital to improve the lives of girls and women world-wide. There are pictures of campaigns that I admire, such as The Girl Effect, Girls Rising and the Half the Sky movement. Additionally, there are images of change makers I look up too: Oprah Winfrey, Tererai Trent, Former President of Heifer International Jo Luck, Muhammad Yunus, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama. And lastly, there is a \"Hey Girl\" image of Ryan Gosling that reads: \"Hey Girl, there is nothing micro about finance\". Of course, the poster wouldn't be complete without a humorous attachment.

I'm hoping that with my increased positive attitude that I will be able to forge a path with deep impact. I am excited to start my career journey in this field and invite your support as I do so :-)

Thank you,
Ashley